Eye/Visor meshing/lense

[Son of Kee]

Hello! I have constructed this helmet/head out of urethane and now am trying to add some kind of kick-ass lense so you cannot see the person on the inside, but they can see you. I am trying to figure out how to do this.

I thought about taking a thin piece of acrylic, cutting it, heating it, thing molding it around the "eye holes" (what could I use to get that one way effect tho?)
I also considered using some kind of mesh (see images) but I have no idea what that material is.

Any ideas? Im open to suggestions!

 

[Risu]

As far as I know, you can apply window tint to acrylic. Maybe a mirror or limo tint? They might even make it in red.

 

[cavx]

Acrylic is good, but be aware than if you heat form it over an object, you may introduce optical distortions into the lenses. Ask any member of the 501st with a helmet with bubble lenses. These distortions can be so bad that the wearer may not want to wear the helmet or mask for more than a few minutes. Others are not phased by them at all.

Mesh is good, but with camera flash, may still allow the wearer to be seen. Any back lighting will make the mesh lens transparent.

 

[Son of Kee]

Any recommendations in regards to a mesh?

 

[Talaaya]

I'm not sure if you want a mirror finish but you could do what I did for my Samus visor: reflective window film (the stuff I used is for house windows). My visor is fluorescent green acrylic with a silver reflective film on the inside.



It creates a two way mirror - as long as it's dark inside the helmet no one can see your eyes and you can see very well! The caveat is it does not work on compound curves, i.e. curves which bend in two directions. This is because it does not stretch. My visor only bends on one axis so it worked, but if yours is a bubble lens then it won't. What you could do, however, is have a fully transparent bubble lens and then another separate flat lens right behind it with the window film on it.

 

[OneGoodScare]

Any recommendations in regards to a mesh?

I made a Jack in the Box head this past Halloween and I used drywall joint tape. That worked pretty well, it was easy enough to see out of, cheap and looked really good. But I don't know if that'll work for you.

 

[ZombieGraves]

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=185367

Lunaman made a spider man outfit with mesh eyes. Looks like he used a vinyl hex pattern with a mirror reflective surface behind it, similar to what Talaaya suggested. Might be what you're looking for.